Near tip quasi-static crack growth behavior in strain hardening and softening material

Analyzed in this work is a semi-infinite crack that grows slowly in a steady-state. The assumed constitutive relation for the material permits strain hardening and softening as it is damaged in time. Four distinct regions divided angularly are identified for the asymptotic expressions of the quasi-static crack-tip stress field. They refer to material degraded in front of the crack; undergone elastic unloading; reloading of degraded material; and material completely by exhausted in its load carrying capacity.     

The effect of straining mode on void growth

Large strain finite element method is employed to investigate the effect of straining mode on void growth. Axisymmetric cell model embedded with spherical void is controlled by constant triaxiality loading, while plane-stress model containing a circular void is loaded by constant ratio of straining. Elastic-plastic material is used for the matrix in both cases. It is concluded that, besides the known effect of triaxiality, the straining mode which intensifies the plastic concentration around the void is also a void growth stimulator. Experimental results are cited to justify the computation results. This paper is jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19872064), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJ951-1-201) and the Laboratory for Nonlinear mechanics of Continuous Media of the Institute of Mechanics     

The size effect on void growth in ductile materials

We have extended the Rice-Tracey model (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 17 (1969) 201) of void growth to account for the void size effect based on the Taylor dislocation model, and have found that small voids tend to grow slower than large voids. For a perfectly plastic solid, the void size effect comes into play through the ratio εl/R₀, where l is the intrinsic material length on the order of microns, ε the remote effective strain, and R₀ the void size. For micron-sized voids and small remote effective strain such that εl/R₀?0.02, the void size influences the void growth rate only at high stress triaxialities. However, for sub-micron-sized voids and relatively large effective strain such that εl/R₀>0.2, the void size has a significant effect on the void growth rate at all levels of stress triaxiality. We have also obtained the asymptotic solutions of void growth rate at high stress triaxialities accounting for the void size effect. For εl/R₀>0.2, the void growth rate scales with the square of mean stress, rather than the exponential function in the Rice-Tracey model (1969). The void size effect in a power-law hardening solid has also been studied.     

A note on the effect of surface energy and void size to void growth

Recent studies revealed that rapid void growth is the dominant failure mechanism in an elasto-plastic solid under high mean tensile stress. This paper studies the effect of the surface energy and void size to the void growth. The models of a thick spherical shell and a thick spherical column in void growth are analyzed and numerically estimated. The main conclusion from this study is that, for typical metals, the surface energy effect is negligible for voids larger than 100 nm in size, but it may become significant when the void size is on the order of 10 nm.     

Influences of microscope size effect of matrix on plastic potential and void growth of porous materials

Based on approximate theoretical analyses on a typical spherical cell containing a spherical microvoid, the influences of matrix materials' microscopic scale on the macroscopic constitutives potential theory of porous material and microvoid growth have been investigated in detail. By assuming that the plastic deformation behavior of matrix materials follows the strain gradient (SG) plastic theory involving the stretch and rotation gradients, the ratio (λ=l/a) of the matrix materials' intrinsic characteristic lengthl to the microvoid radiusa is introduced into the plastic constitutives potential and the void growth law. The present results indicate that, when the radiusa of microvoids is comparable with the intrinsic characteristic lengthl of the matrix materials, the influence of microscopic size effect on neither the constitutive potential nor the microvoid evolution predicted can be ignored. And when the void radiusa is much lager than the intrinsic characteristic lengthl of the matrix materials, the present model can retrogress automatically to the improved Gurson model that takes into account the strain hardening effect of matrix materials. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. A10102006).     

The dynamic growth of a void in a plastic material and an application to fracture

The problem of the dynamic growth of a spherical void in applied stress and strain-rate fields is solved approximately using a variational method. The solution is applied to a model of fracture by void growth from brittle or incoherent inclusions. It is shown that the speed of fracture is limited by inertia near the crack tip. Some numerical results are obtained from data for high strength steels.     

Constitutive potential for ductile damaged material and void growth rate

In this paper a general formula for plastic potential including isotropic ductile damage has been presented on the basis of the thermodynamics for irreversible process and intemal variable theory. With this formula the mass conservation law is satisfied and it also contains a series of unknow coefficients which are the function of macro equivalent stress and the average micro equivalent stress and an unknown function which is the function of two generalized forces. The approximate yield surface equation for isotropically damaged materials is developed. Using this equation the void growth rate is calculated for nonlinear material containing voids. The present results are in good agreement with the numerical results given by the cell model.     

The dynamic growth of a single void in a viscoplastic material under transient hydrostatic loading

We have examined the problem of the dynamic growth of a single spherical void in an elastic-viscoplastic medium, with a view towards addressing a number of problems that arise during the dynamic failure of metals. Particular attention is paid to inertial, thermal and rate-dependent effects, which have not previously been thoroughly studied in a combined setting. It is shown that the critical stress for unstable growth of the void in the quasistatic case is strongly affected by the thermal softening of the material (in adiabatic calculations). Thermal softening has the effect of lowering the critical stress, and has a stronger influence at high strain hardening exponents. It is shown that the thermally diffusive case for quasistatic void growth in rate-dependent materials is strongly affected by the initial void size, because of the length scale introduced by the thermal diffusion. The effects of inertia are quantified, and it is demonstrated that inertial effects are small in the early stages of void growth and are strongly dependent on the initial size of the void and the rate of loading. Under supercritical loading for the inertial problem, voids of all sizes achieve a constant absolute void growth rate in the long term. Inertia first impedes, but finally promotes dynamic void growth under a subcritical loading. For dynamic void growth, the effect of rate-hardening is to reduce the rate of void growth in comparison to the rate-independent case, and to reduce the final relative void growth achieved.     

Plastic shearing of materials exhibiting strain hardening or strain softening

We consider the plastic shearing of a strain-rate dependent material exhibiting strain hardening or strain softening, subjected to steady shearing. We establish the existence of classical solutions and study the stability of uniform shearing. For materials exhibiting strain hardening or a moderate degree of strain softening we show that, as t , every solution approaches, at specific rates of convergence, uniform shearing; thus shear bands do not form.     

Damage accumulation and crack growth in bilinear materials with softening: Application of strain energy density theory

A pseudo-elastic damage-accumulation model is developed by application of the strain energy density theory. The three-point bending specimen is analyzed to illustrate the crack growth characteristics according to a linear elastic softening constitutive law that is typical of concrete materials. Damage accumulation is accounted for by the decrease of elastic modulus and fracture toughness. Both of these effects are assessed by means of the strain energy density functions in the elements around a slowly moving crack. The rate of change of the strain energy density factor S with crack growth as expressed by the relation dS/da = constant is shown to describe the failure behavior of concrete. Results are obtained for different loading steps that yield different slopes of lines in an S versus a (crack length) plot. The lines rotate about the common intersect in an anti-clockwise direction as the load steps are increased. The intersect shifts upward according to increase in the specimen size. In this way, the combined interaction of material properties, load steps and specimen geometry and size are easily analyzed in terms of the failure mode or behavior that can change from the very brittle to the ductile involving stable crack growth. An upper limit on specimen or structural size is established beyond which stable crack growth ceases to occur and failure corresponds to unstable crack propagation or catastrophic fracture. The parameters that control the failure mode are the threshold values of the strain energy density function (dW/dV)_c and the strain energy density factor S_c.     

Dynamic void growth in rate-sensitive plastic solids

A dynamic void growth model in rate-sensitive plastic materials is derived. The constitutive relation of the matrix is in the overstress form proposed by Perzyna. When the rate of deformation sensitive parameter tends to zero, the Gurson model is retrieved. When the porous material element is under triaxial tension, the Carroll-Holt and Johnson models are retrieved. The normality condition of the plastic rate of deformation to the dynamic loading surface at constant equivalent rates of deformation (with the volumetric part also taken into account) is discussed, and it is shown that the normality rule no longer exists in general. Finally, an approximate expression of the dynamic loading surface that may be convenient for engineering applications is suggested.     

The criterion of critical void growth ratio and its applications

In the present paper, the new material parameter of ductile fracturev _gc with an obvious microscopic physical meaning is emphasized, which can be determined by macroscopic method. The theoretical and experimental background for the criterion of critical void growth ratio is expounded from both macroscopic and microscopic points of view. The relationship between the macroform parameterv _gc and microform oneR _c /R _go of critical void growth ratio is investigated. The engineering experimental procedure for determining the value ofv _gc of materials has been recommended. The values ofv _gc for some materials with different heat treatments have been estimated. It is found that the parameterv _gc can be effectively used for selecting materials and their heat treatments. A modified ASPEF criterion accounting for stress states has been proposed. Related expression of modified ASPEF andv _gc has been derived.     

Coupling effects of void size and void shape on the growth of prolate ellipsoidal microvoid

The combined effects of void size and void shape on the void growth are studied by using the classical spectrum method. An infinite solid containing an isolated prolate spheroidal void is considered to depict the void shape effect and the Fleck-Hutchinson phenomenological strain gradient plasticity theory is employed to capture the size effects. It is found that the combined effects of void size and void shape are mainly controlled by the remote stress triaxiality. Based on this, a new size-dependent void growth model similar to the Rice-Tracey model is proposed and an important conclusion about the size-dependent void growth is drawn: the growth rate of the void with radius smaller than a critical radius r_c may be ignored. It is interesting that r_c is a material constant independent of the initial void shape and the remote stress triaxiality.The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (A10102006) and the New Century Excellent Talents in Universities of China. The English text was polished by Keren Wang.     

Boundary effects on behaviour of granular material during plane strain compression

The paper investigates the boundary effect on the behaviour of granular materials during plane strain compression using finite element method. A micro-polar hypoplastic constitutive model was used. The numerical calculations were carried out with different initial densities and boundary conditions. The behaviour of initially dense, medium dense and loose sand specimen with very smooth or very rough horizontal boundary was investigated. The formation of shear zones gave rise to different global and local stress and strain. Comparisons of the mobilized internal friction, dilatancy and non-coaxiality between global and local quantities were made.     

On the micromechanics of void growth by prismatic-dislocation loop emission

Experimental evidence and recent molecular dynamics simulations of void growth indicate that prismatic dislocation loop emission by externally applied stresses is a viable mechanism of void growth under shock loading conditions when diffusive processes are given no time to operate. In this paper, the process of growth by loop emission is studied in a model system comprised of a void in an infinite linearly elastic and isotropic solid loaded axisymmetrically by remote applied stresses. First, the interaction between applied stresses, the stress field of a single dislocation loop or a pile-up of loops next to the void, the surface energy expenditure on void surface change, and the lattice resistance to the motion of loops is reviewed. The necessary condition for interstitial loop emission is used to determine the equilibrium positions of the loops as well as the maximum number of loops in a pile-up under given applied stresses. For the parameters of the model-material with purely hydrostatic loading, the numerical results yield a volume change for the void, which when normalized by the initial undeformed volume, exhibits a strong dependence on the size of the void for radii less than ∼400 times the lattice Burgers vector. For larger voids, the normalized volume change was found to be independent of the void radius.